Indentured Servitude Vs. Slavery
1
Thomas Gordon
Indentured Servitude vs. Slavery
13 January 2015
US History
University of Phoenix
In the beginning of the 1600’s the term slavery in the U.S. wasn’t even thought of. It was more in the terms of indentured servants. In 1607 indentured servants first arrived in America in the decade of the settlement of Jamestown by the Virginia Company. The idea was formed in the thought of servitude was born for a need for cheap labor vs hiring a person and paying them a lot of money. The first couple of colonies and settlers realized that they had acres upon acres of land with only a couple of people to take care of it all. For the settlers that didn’t have a lot of money this was a huge predicament where for the wealthier families they could afford to hire anybody because they could pay for anybody. Therefore the Virginia Company formed this organization of indentured servitude to help attract workers. …show more content…
Which became a very vital system to boost the colonial economy. This is how it began. The nature of indentured servitude is the form of contract labor that binds employees to work for specified periods of time, usually in the satisfaction of debts. In the beginning the colonial period of British North America, a massive amount of the people that came to U.S. came on agreement that they would be indentured servants. The amount is very unaware but, most people estimate it at around 40-75% of white immigrants experienced one of the first periods of unfree labor in colonial times. It was therefore called the British indenture system and after the American Revolution it was stopped. But, was rewritten and created as the Chinese credit ticket system as a debt-slavery of migrants. The early status of Africans in America it was form of bondage that preceded African slavery and was parallel side by side with indentured servants throughout the British Colonial time until the American Revolution started. After they started the Revolution, it caused America to stop doing business with Great Britain therefore stopping the recruitment or forcing people into indentured servants and contracts. Although, many know that this was still going on for decades and changed to the name of Slavery. Several comparisons of indentured servitude and slavery is both don’t own the product of their labor or have any right to switch employers.
They both have serious labor in front of them, something the owner definitely doesn’t want to do. Another distinguishing factor is that once the person has signed or the slave has got to the owner they can make that person do whatever they want them to do because of the law abiding contract. Also, are filling a labor shortage at a price less than hiring a regular person. The difference was that were indentured servants were under a contract and signed up for voluntarily for certain amount of time. In the end were a individual would come out learning a new skill set and/or paid of some type of debt. Slaves was needed by owners because when the labor requirement wasn’t met by the indentured servants. As time passed, a law was created that allowed owners to inherit their children that was born on their property. Another thing was were servants could leave the property and come back slaves
couldn’t. After the Revolutionary war the thought of slave labor and the system boosted to an all-time high because of the depletion of indentured servant system it left a huge void in labor. Now a lot of the colonies looked at slave labor with huge value. It was racial slavery to southern slaveholders and looked very prosperous. They were a permanent dependent labor force, who were defined as a set of people depart from the white society. Slaves were outsiders, racially categorized, and set for everyone to see that they was slaves. There are many ways throughout the world were slavery has taken place and it was literally the same way everywhere it’s rooted at.
•How Bacon's Rebellion played a role in changing the status of African bound labor
References
Feature indentured servants in the U.S. (n.d.). retrieved January 13, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/indentured-servants-in-the-us/ From indentured servitude to racial slavery. (n.d.). retrieved January 13, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr3.html
Servants and slaves, in growth, becoming american: the british atlantic colonies, 1690
1763, primary resources in U.S. history and literature, toolbox library, national humanities center. (n.d.). retrieved January 13, 2015, from
Thomas Gordon
Indentured Servitude vs. Slavery
13 January 2015
US History
University of Phoenix
In the beginning of the 1600’s the term slavery in the U.S. wasn’t even thought of. It was more in the terms of indentured servants. In 1607 indentured servants first arrived in America in the decade of the settlement of Jamestown by the Virginia Company. The idea was formed in the thought of servitude was born for a need for cheap labor vs hiring a person and paying them a lot of money. The first couple of colonies and settlers realized that they had acres upon acres of land with only a couple of people to take care of it all. For the settlers that didn’t have a lot of money this was a huge predicament where for the wealthier families they could afford to hire anybody because they could pay for anybody. Therefore the Virginia Company formed this organization of indentured servitude to help attract workers. …show more content…
Which became a very vital system to boost the colonial economy. This is how it began. The nature of indentured servitude is the form of contract labor that binds employees to work for specified periods of time, usually in the satisfaction of debts. In the beginning the colonial period of British North America, a massive amount of the people that came to U.S. came on agreement that they would be indentured servants. The amount is very unaware but, most people estimate it at around 40-75% of white immigrants experienced one of the first periods of unfree labor in colonial times. It was therefore called the British indenture system and after the American Revolution it was stopped. But, was rewritten and created as the Chinese credit ticket system as a debt-slavery of migrants. The early status of Africans in America it was form of bondage that preceded African slavery and was parallel side by side with indentured servants throughout the British Colonial time until the American Revolution started. After they started the Revolution, it caused America to stop doing business with Great Britain therefore stopping the recruitment or forcing people into indentured servants and contracts. Although, many know that this was still going on for decades and changed to the name of Slavery. Several comparisons of indentured servitude and slavery is both don’t own the product of their labor or have any right to switch employers.
They both have serious labor in front of them, something the owner definitely doesn’t want to do. Another distinguishing factor is that once the person has signed or the slave has got to the owner they can make that person do whatever they want them to do because of the law abiding contract. Also, are filling a labor shortage at a price less than hiring a regular person. The difference was that were indentured servants were under a contract and signed up for voluntarily for certain amount of time. In the end were a individual would come out learning a new skill set and/or paid of some type of debt. Slaves was needed by owners because when the labor requirement wasn’t met by the indentured servants. As time passed, a law was created that allowed owners to inherit their children that was born on their property. Another thing was were servants could leave the property and come back slaves
couldn’t. After the Revolutionary war the thought of slave labor and the system boosted to an all-time high because of the depletion of indentured servant system it left a huge void in labor. Now a lot of the colonies looked at slave labor with huge value. It was racial slavery to southern slaveholders and looked very prosperous. They were a permanent dependent labor force, who were defined as a set of people depart from the white society. Slaves were outsiders, racially categorized, and set for everyone to see that they was slaves. There are many ways throughout the world were slavery has taken place and it was literally the same way everywhere it’s rooted at.
•How Bacon's Rebellion played a role in changing the status of African bound labor
References
Feature indentured servants in the U.S. (n.d.). retrieved January 13, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/indentured-servants-in-the-us/ From indentured servitude to racial slavery. (n.d.). retrieved January 13, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr3.html
Servants and slaves, in growth, becoming american: the british atlantic colonies, 1690
1763, primary resources in U.S. history and literature, toolbox library, national humanities center. (n.d.). retrieved January 13, 2015, from